Voltage ratio meter for high-frequency calibration systems



May 8, 1962 B, o. wElNscHr-:L

VOLTAGE RATIO METER FOR HIGH-FREQUENCY CALIBRATION SYSTEMS Filed Oct. 25, 1960 3 SheeLs-Sheefl 2 INVENTOR Bruno O. Weinschel B. o. wElNscHEL 3,034,045

VOLTAGE RATIO METER EOE HIGH-FREQUENCY OALTBEATTON SYSTEMS May 8, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 25, 1960 INVENTOR y Bruno O. Weinschel VGLTAGE RATE() METER FR HIGH-FREQUENCY CALERATION SYSTEMS Bruno 0. Weinschel, Bethesda, Md., assigner to Weinschel Engineering Co., Inc., Kensington, Nid., a corporation of Delaware Filed 9ct. 25, 1960, Ser. No. 64,766

8 Ciairns. (Cl. 324-58) (vols. 1*-7, Nos. 3 and 4), entitled Calibration rof Signal Generator vOutput Voltage in the Range of 100 to 1000 Megacycles; and by B. O. Weinschel et al., March 1959 (vols. 1-8, No. l),V entitled Relative Voltmeter for-YHF- UHF Signal Generator Attenuator Cali-brator.

Y The present invention relates toa similar equipment to that described in the above publications, but is directed to improvements which greatly extend the useful range and accuracy of the equipment. The prior equipment was limited to an effective upper range in the order of 1000 megacycles, While the present equipment, by virtue of the improvements described, can -be used `for extremely high precision measurements up to 4000 megacycles and higher.

This extension of the useful range of the apparatus results primarily from the elimination of certain sources of error and inaccuracy, as will be described in more detail below, and also from certain additions and improvements which cause automatic compensation of a major source of error, namely, frequency instability of the associated laboratory equipment used in making the test.

It is therefore a major object of the invention to provide an improved equipment of the type described in the IRE publications cited, and more particularly to render such equipment practically insensitive to lfrequency instability of the associated laboratory equipment, eg., signal generator, local oscillators, etc.

Another object is to increase the utility and'versatility of the apparatus by permitting the use of any signal generator, even one which has only fair frequency stability, which was not previously possible.

The speciiic nature of the invention, as well as other objects and advantages thereof, will clearly appear from a description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic circuit diagram of the limiter and frequency discriminator circuit; i

FIG. 3 is a schematic circuit diagram of the automatic frequency follower circuit; and

FIG. 4 is a block circuit diagram showing one Vform of switching.

Referring to FIG.V l, the apparatus which is usually furnished as a unitary special equipment for calibration purposes is shown within the dotted line 2. The appavratus outside of the dotted line is usually available in any properly equipped laboratory and includes the equipment under test, which may be, typically, an attenuator 3, supplied by any signal generator v4, of the attenuator may be the output attenuator of the speciiic signal generator under test. A conventional pad 6 is used (if needed) to reduce the maximum signal level to a suitable value, e.g., to dbm (db with reference to l milliwatt), and the signal is fed by line 10 to the mixer 7 through a conventional slotted line section 8 and VSWR indicator 9, and impedance matching unit 11, which mayV equal.

assists Fatented May \8 2 be a double-stub tuner, which matches the mixer to th proper "impedance, The output of a local oscillator 12, operated at a frequency which is separated from the frequency of the R-'F signal on line 10 by 3,0 megacycles, is also fed to mixer 7, so that the output of the mixer on line 13 is at 30 megacycles. The mixer 7 has a linear characteristic, that is, the amplitude of the output voltage at the intermediate frequency (30 megacycles)kis linearly related tothe amplitude of the input signal. The mixer output is then compared with the 30 megacycle output of a crystal controlled highly stable standard source 14, which is 'fed Vto 30 megacycle comparison head 30 db. This attenuator is therefore not put into the signal channel in the circuit of FIG. l, buty a parallel type LF. substitution is employed. The two amplitudes of the LF. signal and thestandard signal are compared, and the piston attenuator is adjustedV until they are exactly To accomplish this comparison in a convenient manner, signal generator 4 and the standard 30 megacycle source 14 are squarewave modulated at a 1000 cycle per second rate, by means of a 1000 cps. square modulator I18. This modulator produces a 1 kc. squarewave with adjust- Vable phase and duty cycle so arranged that the two outputs on lines-19 and Z1 are interlaced, i.e., when there is a pulse on one line there is none on the other line, and vice versa. The output on line 19t is preferably applied through a clipper 22 to the signal generator 4; however, not all available signal generators are capable of being so modulated, in which case local oscillator 12 is alternatively modulated as shown 'by line 19 and switch 20. As previously indicated, the standard source 14 and signal generator 4 (or local oscillator 12) are modulated in counter phase, i.e., when one is on, the other is on, and vice versa; therefore, the signal coming out of the comparison head 16 is a 30 mc, signal due to either the signal from the standard source 14 through the piston attenuator 17, or the signal from generator 5 through the mixer 7. If these two signals are now of proper relative amplitude, the resulting signal going into the LF. differential ampliiier 23 is a steady 30 rnc. signal with no 1000 cycle modulation apparent; however, if the two signals are not of the proper relative amplitude, then there will be a 30 mc. output which is amplitude modulated at 1000 cycles, on line 24;v this is demodulated by linear detector 26, amplied at 27 by a tuned 1000 cycle amplifier, and

applied to a phase sensitive 1000 cycle null indicator 28- which is also supplied on line 29 with a 1 kc. comparison input from modulator 18 through phase shifter 31, for amplitude comparison. Another output from phase shifter 31 on line 32 is applied to phase indicator 33 for frequency comparison.

lt should be mentioned that the local oscillator 12 is shown as a separate unit in order to increase the range and flexibility of the equipment, sincev this enables any one of a number of such oscillators of different frequency ranges to be used, and the frequency range of the local oscillator must be selected to suit the signal frequency. The system so far described is essentially similar to that described in the two IRE reference previously cited.

There are two ways in which a 1000 cycle modulation might appear on the output of the LF. differential'amplifier 23. One way, as previously described, is due to the signals going into the comparison head not being of the amplifier can occur Vif the two signalsV which are being compareddilfer slightly in frequency, because if this oc- Vcurs, there will be a slight difference in frequency ofv the two signals applied to the differential amplifier, and if there is any appreciable slope in the LF.V amplifier characteristic, then Veven though there might not Vbe any 1000 cycle modulation on the 30 mc. signal going into the amplier; there might very well be a 1000 cycle amplitude quency. As long as the two signals are of the same fire-V Y quency, this second typejof error will not occur. At the lower frequencies, itis relatively easy to adjust the local oscillator to the proper frequency, and to maintain the driftfsuiiiciently small to be acceptable. However, as the frequency rises, the absolute drift thatis tolerable does not change, but the percentage drift becomes much.V more important, and the percentage drift which is teler-- able becomes much lessbecause of the higher frequency.

For example, at 400 or -500 megacycles, it is relatively easy to maintain a frequency stability ofabout 5 or 10 kc., but at 4000 mc., this is a practical impossibility, because of the many factors which tend to change the frequency.

" The overall stability is not only a function of the stability of the local oscillator, but is also a'function of the stability of the signal generator, because either of these drifting can produce a change in the output frequency at the mixer. Furthermore, the stability of the signal generator is one ofthe things being tested.` Y Y In order to minimize the second error, we employ what weV term an automatic frequency follower and comparator. This is essentially a feedback signal applied on line 36 to the local oscillator 12, Vthis signal being of such magnitude and direction as to control'the localoscillator fre- 'quency and keep the 'dierence frequency on line 13 the same as the frequency of the standard source Y14.

It should be noted that meter 33 shows the diierence in frequency between the 30 mc. standard signal from source 1'4, and the output signal of the'mixer. Itis necessary forjthese frequencies to be Valike so that the gain of the amplilier Z3 is identical for both ofV these signals. The ampliflerris, of course,.rnade to have as dat a frequencyY characteristic as possible (a 100 kc. portion of the passband is flat within 0.1 db peak-to-peak). At highfrequencies, it `becomes diflicultto keep the frequency diierence less than 5 kc; This diilculty, however, is overcome by the AFF circuit shown. This circuit will serve the local oscillator over a drift range of .5% and thus maintain the frequency difference between the mixer outpult and the standard signal less than 5 kc. The circuit employed (FIG. 2) has enough discrimination to operate at levels as low as -107 dbm. Y

In Order to extend the range of an LF. substitution test set at the lower-level end, it is important to reduce the noise, which isf done hereby using a low crystal current and small I.F. ampliiier bandwidth. However, reduction of crystal current also reduces the linear range of theV mixer at the high-level end (-15 dbm) and affects the R-F and LF. impedance of the mixer, requiring a design compromise between these factors. Similarly, `a narrow bandwidth in Ythe, LF. amplifier requires corresponding frequency stability of the R-F signal and the local oscillator which entails another compromise. In a practical equipment according to theinventon, the noise band-` width ofthe I F. amplifier is approximately 1 mc. p. s.; however, this noise is further reduced by employing a 1000 cycle per second synchronous detector and filter following the linearY detector 26, to the point where at 'R-F input levels 107 dbm to the mixertwhich is 15 db below the equivalent input noise), the uctuation of the output indicator is less than V10.2 db, using a 0.1 second time constant in the output indicator.

If the signal generator 4 is not designed for frequency control by external voltage, local oscillators 12 are commercially `'available which are readily controllable as to frequency, within a useful range, by applying a D.C. voltage of proper magnitude and direction toa control element, eg., the repeller of the klystron employed in the oscillator.V Such a signal is produced by the frequency follower 3S. One practical circuit for this is shown in detail in FIG. 2, but it will be understood that other frequency-responsive circuits could be designed to produce a D.C. output which is a function of the magnitude and direction of the frequencydiiference between the two fre quency inputs-from the mixer and the standard source respectively. For the purpose of the present equipment, the standard source may be taken to .be constant.

t In FIG. 1, everything following the comparison head 16 serves to indicate a null in the 1000 cycle modulation on its 30 mc. output. To prevent the sensitivity of the null indication from falling off at low input levels, the LF. ampliiier'23 is provided with automatic gain control that maintains a level of approximately 1 volt at the detector Yfor. inputs of from 5 microvolts to 50'mil1ivolts. This requires a gain change 0f 80 db.,

TheLF. amplifier response is centered at 30 mc. with a bandwidth of approximately 1 mc. between 3 db points. The maximum slope of the response is less than 0.01 db per 10 kc. over a 100 kc. band at the center of the characteristic.

Two outputs are taken `from the LF. amplifier 23. One is to the linear detector 26 that furnishes the AGC voltage on line 26A and the voltage on line 26B, through a suitable amplifier 2.7, to the amplitude comparator 28. The other output goes to frequency discriminator 25, the output of Vwhich is applied to frequency follower and comparator 35, thence as one input to phase sensitive meter 63, for comparison with the phase of the sine wave on line 32 as previously described.v This latter indicator is provided to insure that no 1000 cycle modulation is generated as -a result of a difference in frequency of the two input signals. In practice, the local oscillator frequency is adusted to produce a null frequency difference indication. The limiters allow this adjustment to be made prior to the amplitude balance. The characteristic of discriminator 25 is suchthat a S-kc. difference will produce full scale deflection ona zero center meter independent 0f input level from, 40 mv. 'tov 10 microvolts; a 2-kc. difference will'produce a deiiection of 5 divisions. for the same range of input voltages. These Vare at the' maximum sensitivity settings, which'can be reduced if desired. The limiting action is such that the frequency adjustment can be made Veven if the two signals differ in amplitude by as much as 40 db. Any known type of frequency discriminator, for example, a ratio detector,l maybe employed, but a preferred circuit is shown in FIG. 2;

The I.F.-differential amplifier 23 should be carefullyv regulated and for this purpose an output is taken on line 24 through linear detector 26 which furnishes the AGC voltage on line 26A and the voltage for the amplitude nulldetector on line 26B. The AGC voltage on line 26A is passed through sensitivity regulatorrZC, which is in practice a controllable D.C. amplifier', and in a practical embodiment used to regulate tive stages of the LF. differential amplifier, asV schematically indicated in FIG. l. Any suitable known system of gain control may be employed, and the details of the particular LF. differential amplifier employed are not per se a part of the present invention. s

FIG. 4 'shows a modification of a portion of FIG. 1, namely the` means for alternately switching the signals from the signal generator (or localoscillator) for interlacing with the signals from the standard source.

In FG. 1, there is shown means for switching alternately the two signals which are being compared so that they are fed alternately into the differential amplier. If either the signal generator or the local oscillator is switched on and off, as was accomplished by the form of l kc. modulation shown in FIG. l, a slow drift of frequency (that is, relative to 1/2 millisecond) is apt to occur until the output becomes stable. As this is an appreciable vportion of the pulse time, it may introduce some undesirable distortion into the squarewave pulse which is emitted, thus interfering with the accuracy.

In general, it is preferable to modulate the signal generator rather than the local oscillator (although means are shown for doing either) since noise output from the mixer crystal is a function of the crystal current, keeping in mind that the local oscillator signal is much greater than theV signal generator signal. With the local os,- cillator modulated, the noise output of the mixer crystal will vary between the on and oi period, since the noise output of a crystal varies with the crystal current. For wide-range signals, the signal generator should therefore be modulated if possible to eliminate noise modulation at the output of the mixer.

Instead of turning on and off the llocal oscillator, the

a crystal type semi-conductor operated as a diode switch, v

or may be a ferrite switch, suitable devices being commercially available.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic circuit diagram of a practical limiter and frequency discriminator circuit such as is represented by block 25 in FIG. 1.l The input on line 23A from the differential amplifier is first passed through a buer stage 41 and then through twolimiter stages 42 `and 43, which are essentially of conventional design, in order that the output of the frequency discriminator shalt be a function of only the frequency difference of the inputs and as completely as possible be independent of their amplitudes. The output of limiter stage 43, now of highly controlled amplitude on line '44, is now supplied to the frequency discriminator circuit 46, Iwhich is essentially a ratio detectortype of di-scriminator, as will be' apparent from the circuit shown. The output of the frequencydiscriminator 46 will now appear on line 47 as a 1000 cycle square Wave in which the levels a and b respectively correspond to the two sources which are being compared, due to the interlaced 1000 cycle modulation previously described. Since we are not interested in the absolute `frequencies of the two sources, butl only 'in their relative frequencies, that is, the difference between the top and bottom of the squarewave, the signal is passed on line 47 (FIG. 3) through a decoupling resis- Vtor 48 and 0.1 microfarad condenser 49 to the grid of tube 51. Due to the resonant circuit 50, which is tuned to 1000 cycles, we now obtain a sine wave input to the Vgrid of the amplifier tu-be 51, and the amplitude of the sine wave is proportional to the frequency difference between the output of the megacycle standard source 14 and the output of mixer 7. If there'isv no frequency difference between the two, the yamplitude of this sine wave will be zero. By usinga synchronous detectorbased on the standard source 14, as will be shown below, We can now obtain a measure of the amplitude and phase with respect to the standard source in order to obtain a control voltage whichmay be used to equalize the difference between the LF. andthe standard signal.

The output of tube S1 is passed on line 52 through adjustment potentiometer 53 and line S4 to the control grid of tube 56. This tube (type V-602) is used as a synchronous detector tube and is provided with two deflector grids 57, 58 which are supplied, on lines 59 and 61- respectively, with the sine wave signal from transformer 62, the primary of which is supplied with the reference voltage from phase shifter 31 (FIG. 1). The cathode of tube 56 is provided with the usual bypass capacitor and grid resistor, as indicated at 63, for establishing the4 necessary bias voltage. It will be noted that the signal on the two grids 57, 58 is opposite in phase since they are attached 'to opposite ends of the transformer secondary; Itshould be noted that the secondary center tap 64 is not actually grounded due to necessity for including the control voltage in the rather high repelicr voltage ofklystron .66, which is being controlled by the circuit, as will be explained below, and. which may be a different voltage for dierent circuits -with' which it is used. However, this center tap is passed through a 470K resistor 67 to the level adjusting potentiometer 68 through a large capacity condenser (e.g., 2 microfarads) 69 to ground.

The comparator circuit itself is generally indicated at v 71, and includes the two anodes of tube 56, which function as deliection plates under control of the deflection grids 57 and 5S. These plate circuits include the respective plate resistors 71 and 72, bypass condensers 73 and 74, andV an adjusting potentiometer 76, through which this circuit is returned to the plate supply voltage. Meter 33 (see also FIG. 1) is connected to the respective anodes of tube 56. The bypass capacitors 73 and 74 are included to eliminate anyy ripple and to insure smooth D.C.` potential across the resistors. The two deiiector grids 57 and 58- deect the electron stream very strongly; if one Aof them is positive it will attract the electron beam and shown. The grid signal input on line 54 from the pre-V ceding stage determines the intensity of the electron current, and if grid S5 is positive at the moment when deflection grid; 57 is also at a maximum positivethen the beam will be strongly deflected toward the other plate. The potential at this plate will therefore go strongly down while the other plate correspondingly is at a higher potential, and this will be indicated by meter 33 which thus gives a visual indication of the relative frequencies. Potentiometer 76 will in practice be mounted on the control panel for initial adjustment to balance the two plates, and in a practical embodiment, a Thyrite element 77 is inserted between the two plates to prevent damage to meter 33 due to overload, as is understood in the art.

The above circuit provides a vvisual indication, but it is also necessary to provide a controli voltage signal back `to the local oscillator 12 (FIG. l) in'orderto-keep the frequency on line 13 the same as the output of standard source 14. In addition to being supplied to leads 59 and 61 for the abovey purpose, the outputof transformer 62 is also suppliedon leads 81 and 82 to two diodes 33 and 84, through two resistors 86 and 87 to the potentiometer 68. It will be noted that this is in some respects a similar circuit to"".the comparator circuit above described, but a separate circuit is required because of the necessity of including the highilrlystron voltage in this circuit, as previously mentioned. The local oscillator 12 of FG. 1 includes a klystron tube 66, the control voltage of which determines the frequencykof its output. This is typically a fairly high voltage, and the necessary .control forrthe 7 present purpose is secured by addingto or subtracting from this Voltage. For this purpose, the repeller voltage circuit of rtube 66 is put in series with tube 90, the gridV of which is controlled' by the circuit previously descrbed. Since the potential coming in on points. 91 and 92 is determined by the external circuit, thearrangement must be such as to accommodate a variety of such circuits. The actual potential to ground from the center of transformer 62 depends upon the circuitry of thetoscillator which is employed. Since this mustV be fed in directly at'points 91, 92, a transformer cannot be used atthis point on account of the voltage isolation which it wouldintroduce between the two circuits. The center point of potentiometer-68 is essentially grounded through large capacitor 69, so far as AeC.V is concerned. Similarly, the` center point for the comparator circuit 71 is essentially grounded throughV lead 93, capacitor 94, plate resistor 96, and through the large capacitor 98 (e.g., 2 mfd.) to ground. A signal across the plate resistor 96 of amplifier tube 99 is the same as the signal across resistor 67, and the output will now beA proportional to the product ofthe two signals being compared. This output is applied on line 101 to the grid of tube 90 and will be rzero for the condition of equality of the two frequencies. AThe D.C. voltage on line 101 will also bepositive when the output of the LF.v differential amplifier 23 isflarger than 30 megacycles', and negative when Athis output is less than 30 megacycles. This is, of course, assuming that the standard source actually maintains 30 megacycles exactly. More strictly,

. Vthe circuit merely adjusts the local oscillator until it matches the frequency of the standard source, and this is all that matters for the test under consideration,- since a small deviation in frequency ofthe standard source Would do no harm. In the klystron circuit shown, theY vacuum tube 90 now acts in effect as a series regulator for the circuit of klystron tube 66. .It will be apparent* that the Iepeller voltage will become smaller for nega-. Vtive voltages and larger for positive voltages, which produces the desired regulation of frequency. Tube 90 may be regarded as a variable impedance which varies with the applied voltage between the grid and cathode, that is, with the control voltage.

Without .the above-described automatic frequency follower circuit, the frequency stability of a good R-F.`

source is sufficient to permit manual adjustment of the local oscillator so as to keep the frequency difference less than kc. However, at higher frequencies, this becomes very difficult to do, and in practice, cannot be done satisfactorily. On the other hand, above 900 mc., the cir@ cuit above described will servo .the local oscillator over a drift range of m05 percent in order to` maintain the frequency dilerence `between the mixer output and the standard signal less than 5 kc. This circuit has sufficient discrimination to operate at levels as low as -107 dbm.

ln practice, this hasextended the upper range of the instrument from 1000 megacycles to 4000 megacycles. l

It should be noted that the time required for making a measurement of thertype described is in `the order of 1/2 minute to a minute, and in that time many available signal generators would drift sutiiciently in'frequency so that the measurement simply could not be made in the time available. This was one of the factors which has Vhereover the entire range which is possiblewith Vthe present instrument, from 100 megacycles lto Y4000rnegacycles.

The present invention therefore allows the use of any.

signal generator which has only fair frequency stability over this very large range. Y Y

It will be apparent that the embodiments shown are only exemplary and that various modifications can be 8 made in construction and arrangement within the scope of the invention as dened in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An insertion loss test system comprising a highfrequencysi-gnal generator supplying an output at a frequency from 1,000 to 4,060 megacycles for supplying a high-frequency device Whose insertion loss is to be tested; a standard'source of intermediate frequency at a certain amplitude, said source being subject to spontaneous changes in frequency during a test; a local oscillator; a mixer for beating the output of said generator in the range up to'4,000 megacycles through said high-frequency'device with the output of said local oscillator to provide a heterodyne lfrequency output equal to said intermediate frequency; an intermediate-frequency amplifier; means including an.` audio-frequency squarewave modulating device -for supplying the output of said mixer and of said standard source in counterphase vto said intermediate frequency amplifier at said A-,F so that each of said outputs is alternately supplied in interlaced fashion; amplitude limiter means for limiting the output of the LF. amplifier to la constant level; means supplied by said LF. amplifier for convertingsaid interlaced outputs to .interlaced D.C. outputs whose respective D.C. levels are representative of the respective'frequencies of saidV mixer output and of said standard source output; meansV Y sense and magnitude between said two respective frequencies; voltage-cont-rolled frequency control means for varying the frequency of said local oscillator output; and means for applying said D.C. voltage-to said last means to equalize the frequency of said mixer output to the same frequency as the standard source regardless of said spontaneous changes, and means for comparing said certain amplitude of the standard source output with the output amplitude of the `intermediate frequency amplifier as a measure of attenuation of the system being tested.

2. The invention according to. claim l, said interlace means comprising R-F output switching means controlled by said modulating device for'controlling the input to said mixer.

3..The invention according to claim l, said voltagecontrolled frequency control -means including klystron :tube means, the control voltage of which Vdetermines the frequency of the output; said D.C. voltage being applied to the control circuit of said klystron tube means.

4. The invention according to claim 3, and indicator circuit means supplied with said sine-wave output for indicating the difference in'frequency between the output of said mixer and of said standard source. Y

5. The invention according to claims, said klystron having a high-voltage D.C. repeller circuit, said means for applying D.C. voltage includingan electronic-path voltage-controlled impedance element in series with said high-voltage ,repel-ler circuit, and Vcircuit means for apply- `ing to said impedance element a control voltage which is a function of theamplitude and phase of'said sinel wave output.

6. The invention according to claim 5, said last circuit means including a transformer having a center-tap secondary winding and a primary winding, means for supplying phase-reference voltage to said prim-ary Winding, means for supplying aV signal derived from saidV sine-waye voltage to .the center tap of the transformer secondary,`

7. The invention according to claim 6, said intercon- A 2,577,668 Wilmott et. al. Dec. 4, 1951 nection circuit including a center-tap potentiometer conv 2,713,122 lHenley July 12, 1955 nected across said circuit, said potentiometer having an 2,849,613- Dicke Aug. 26, 1958 adjustable center section, a circuit connecting lsaid adjust- `able center section to the center tap of the transformer, 5 FOREGN PATENTS and a voltage-dropping impedance yin said 'last circuit.

means connected from the center-tap of said potentiometer to ground to provide a low-impedance A.'C. yground OTHER REFERENCES Pah- 10 Hedrich et al.: Calibration of Signal Generator Out put Voltage in the Range 'of 100 Ato 1000 Megacycles,

References Clted m the me of this Patent IKE Transactions on Instrumentation, December 1958;

UNITED STATES PATENTS vols. 1-7, Nos. 3 and 4, ppi 275-279.`

2,424,833 Korman July 29, 1947 

